More than 102,000 students have taken part in organised sport through Sport England’s Active Universities programme, surpassing its initial target by more than 20,000.

The programme targets broader participation in university sports, encouraging students to develop a sporting a habit for life, rather than the traditional team and performance improvements.

Sport England figures show that 57 per cent of students at universities with Active Universities funded projects now play sport at least once a week.

The clearest indications of the impact of the programme, however, can be seen in the number of female and disabled students taking part in sport.

The results from the recent HE Sport Survey show that 53 per cent of female students are now playing sport at least once a week, which has increased by two per cent in one year, and nearly half of all disabled students are now playing sport weekly – a rise of three per cent on last year’s results.